We bring you a new season with Manish Bhatia, President, Building Products Division, HSIL Ltd. The genesis of Hindware goes way back to the 1960s when HSIL Limited introduced the virtuous China sanitaryware in India for the first time in 1963. Trusted and recognised by millions across the country, Hindware began its journey in the sanitaryware space and has continued to grow that segment through sustained focus on technology and design.
What according to you is the importance of BTL specifically for HSIL products in the world of advertising and promotions? While you do advertise in mass and specialised media, how much of point-of-sale and other BTL promotional activity do you employ?
HSIL treats BTL as consumers connect opportunity and lays a lot of emphasis on positive MOT (Moment of Truth) driving experiences for the consumer. BTL for HSIL / HSIL products is of utmost importance as it is looked upon as a ‘Sell-out’ initiative, rather than a mere routine branding and display program. Planting right product proposition cues and consumer benefits in consumer’s mind is in focus while developing any BTL elements, be it catalogues, leaflets, Product Display Standees etc. We need to create a distinct consumer experience and we look upon BTL route as one of the a medium to connect with the consumer at the point-of-purchase level with meaningful product and consumer propositions.At this very moment, we are running a ‘Blockbuster Celebration’ consumer connect promotion campaign leveraging New Product Launches: Like Kylis Bathrooms and Bathroom concept proposition as central theme for the campaign.
Your products cater to diverse segments… are there some audiences where BTL works better than ATL and vice versa?
The role of these is somewhat overlapping but still distinct. ATL creates consumer interests in a brand and as he or she enters the first stage of interaction with the category, brings the brand in consideration. BTL starts from there, and helps convert this interest into consumer preference for the brand.
What about outreach and promotions with the trade? How do you achieve that by way of promotions?
Brand Hindware is committed to ensuring not only we work with our retailers to deliver sell ins; but also sell outs , so that retailer is able to rotate his working capital and make meaningful profit . “Hindware Block Buster Consumer promotion” , launched this year is a step in that direction.
We have also embarked upon rolling out a unique and differentiated Program for Plumbers and Plumbing contractors , called Hindware Mitr which will help trade partners to drive sell-out as well as enable the plumber community to become more Saksham.
And typically what is the break-up of spends at HSIL…Â ATL v/s BTL?Â
At present it is 60% BTL and 40% ATL.
In terms of generating results esp from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?
Both mediums play a different role and they are not mutually agnostic. However while driving consumer conversions, BTL plays a relatively more meaningful role as you can run more targeted programs; e.g. Hindware Mitr is a targeted BTL program, which I am sure will be quite effective in building connect with influencers.
While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you/your clients look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?
A good BTL program should result in sell outs and hence faster stock rotation. Increase in purchase frequency, both in number of orders as well as order size is a valuable indicator for this. Conversations on social media add value to BTL campaigns as the medium helps in creating buzz around these programs.
There are many organisations – especially in your space – who often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with or without an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?
I think the answer lies in product categories and targeted consumers. If you are launching boutique or niche products or you have distribution weakness, doing only BTL is a viable and sensible option. It helps in creating a tailor made campaign and avoids media spill overs and wastage. However, for an industry leader like us, especially for our brand hindware, with its well spread out distribution, we believe a combination of two works better.
